Lichteler Landturm
The Lichteler Landturm is a former access tower to the Rothenburg Landhege . It stands at the Landturm residential area of the same name on a hill on the road from Lichtel to Rinderfeld near Creglingen in northeast Baden-Württemberg .
history
The imperial city of Rothenburg expanded its territory considerably between 1383 and 1406, so that it finally consisted of 183 localities. In order to better protect this area, the city council decided in 1420 to build a country enclosure . It was a 60 kilometer long system of earth walls and dense hedges that enclosed the imperial city territory in a 20 meter wide strip. Access was only possible at nine points that were secured with towers; one of them was the Lichteler Landturm.
The 15 meter high tower was built around 1430 and served at the same time as a customs post and accommodation for the Hegereiter who patrolled along the border. At that time the street ran through its basement, the outer gate was also secured with a portcullis . In 1681 the tower was renovated. After the end of the imperial freedom of Rothenburg, the Landhege was dissolved in 1804, but the Lichteler Landturm remained. It has been owned by the Swabian Alb Association since 1910 and has been used as a hiking hostel from time to time.
Current location and use
The Lichteler Landturm is now right next to a courtyard, while the road has been moved a few meters further to the northeast. The former fortification system has been leveled, but the former earth walls can still be seen to some extent on the side of the tower.
The tower now serves as the clubhouse of the Creglingen branch of the Swabian Alb Association, which renovated and expanded it in the 1960s and again in 1980. The tower room on the upper floor was painted with frescoes by a Rothenburg artist . The tower can be visited, for which the key must be requested from the farmer of the neighboring farm. The tower rooms also offer space for private events for up to 60 people.
view
At 15 meters, the tower is low compared to other observation towers, but is in an exposed position so that you can see the immediate surroundings in the east as far as the Frankenhöhe , in the south as far as the Swabian-Franconian Forest .
literature
- Sophie Stelzle-Hüglin, Michael Strobel, Andreas Thiel, Inken Vogt (arrangement): Archaeological monuments in Baden-Württemberg . Published by the Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg and the Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-89021-717-6 , p. 77 (No. 104: Creglingen, Oberrimbach, TBB, Landturm und Landhege).
Web links
- The Lichteler Landturm on the website of the Swabian Alb Association
- The Lichteler Landturm on the website of the Burgberg-Tauber-Gaus of the Swabian Alb Association
- Daniela Pfeuffer: A special destination . In: Fränkische Nachrichten of August 28, 2012
Coordinates: 49 ° 24 ′ 43.07 " N , 10 ° 1 ′ 46.33" E